Bengals 2025 NFL Mock Draft: Interests and potential targets become clearer following the NFL Scouting Combine
And just like that, we're in March. It's become prime mock draft season, and with the NFL Scouting Combine in the rearview mirror, we know a little bit more about what the Cincinnati Bengals are looking for in the 2025 NFL Draft. Cincinnati spent plenty of time in Indianapolis getting to know trench players on both […]
And just like that, we're in March. It's become prime mock draft season, and with the NFL Scouting Combine in the rearview mirror, we know a little bit more about what the Cincinnati Bengals are looking for in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Cincinnati spent plenty of time in Indianapolis getting to know trench players on both sides of the ball. Assistant coaches dropped breadcrumbs here and there that can lead us to identifying what kinds of players the team has its eyes on.
The conclusion of free agency will open and close even more doors, but for now, let's run through an updated Bengals mock draft after combine week.
1.17: Ole Miss DT Walter Nolen
For all the uncertainty that's surrounding Nolen in the form of no athleticism testing and questionable character concerns, I feel very confident in the Bengals' interest in him. Their meeting with him at the combine is just the tip of the iceberg. This team has drafted a five-star recruit with their first-round pick in four of the six (and each of the last three) drafts head coach Zac Taylor's been on staff. They target players who declared early from big-time programs who played in big-time games in the first couple of rounds. The only box Nolen didn't necessarily check was the last one since Ole Miss just missed out on the College Football Playoff last year.
Fair warning: This may not be the last time I mock Nolen at this spot. There's plenty to learn about the rest of his profile, but he's already on the short list of likely targets.
2.49: Georgia G Tate Ratledge
One of the definitive winners from the last day of the combine was the man with the mullet. Ratledge had a phenomenal day running, jumping, and executing on-field drills after weighing in at 308 pounds. The Bengals met with him and his teammate Jared Wilson, but they were familiar with both of them going back to last year when they scouted and eventually drafted Amarius Mims. The idea of pairing Mims back up with his right guard from college is intriguing enough on the surface, and that 2023 season was also Ratledge's best and most complete year for the Bulldogs.
I think the Bengals will start looking for a guard in the second round, but won't force a pick unless the right player is in front of them. Their interest in Ratledge makes this a likely pick.
3.81: Oklahoma LB Danny Stutsman
Now it's time to read between the lines a bit. It wasn't reported that Stutsman met with Cincinnati, but with Al Golden back in the saddle and Germaine Pratt almost surely out the door this month, the team will be very open to drafting a linebacker starting on Day 2 again much like five years ago when Logan Wilson was picked in the third round and nearly a round prior if Tee Higgins wasn't available. Stutsman was projected as an early Day 3 prospect before last week, but in a fast group of linebackers, he's not only one of the few speedsters (4.52 40-yard dash) over 230 pounds, he also has some of the best market share production of his peers.
I think Stutsman does make his way to the third round now, and Taylor has long-standing ties to Oklahoma as a Norman native and the Bengals have had recent success taking in players from the program too.
4.118: Miami RB Damien Martinez
Clearer intel from the week made it known the Bengals will be interested in adding size to the backfield along with Chase Brown. Martinez has that at 217 pounds and uses it to punish would-be defenders, but he's no sloth with a 4.51 40 time to boot. He was The Guy at Oregon State starting as a freshman and improved as a sophomore before transferring to The U for his third and final season. He's one of the youngest players projected to go off the board on Day 3, which is when the Bengals pull the trigger on running backs these days.
It's entirely possible the Bengals fall in love with a running back a bit earlier than this, but the wise route to go would be to take advantage of how deep the class is and stay their usual course. Martinez would be very fine value at this juncture.
5.154: Kansas OT Logan Brown
He's not the biggest tackle Cincy met with this week, but Brown boosted his draft stock nonetheless in Indy with elite explosion figures and a fine 40 time of 5.18 at 311 pounds. The former five-star recruit for Wisconsin got to utilize his abilities for the Jayhawks last year and proved to be one of the better run-blocking tackles in the country.
Starting for just one year may prohibit teams from drafting him higher than this, but the Bengals showed plenty of interest in tackles projected to go anywhere on Day 3. Brown feels like a good fit.
6.195: Alabama TE CJ Dippre
I didn't expect to go with more offensive than defensive players, but a tight end drafted is far more likely than a tight end signed through free agency. Dippre carries a profile very similar to Drew Sample, whom the Bengals shockingly drafted in the second round.
Cincinnati came off as scarred from drafting tight ends at all for years following that decision, but taking a blocking tight end in the sixth round is far from an egregious act. Dippre's 4.69 40 time at 256 pounds also stands out surprisingly well in this group of tight ends.
